What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

RV-14/14A Service Bulletin SB 18-09-17 published: possible cracking of F-01478 skin

I have looked at it and debating to do it at this time or leave it for a bit later. One rivet might pose a bit of challenge the one immediately aft of the rib. I might barrow a friend's pneumatic squeezer for the rivets inside so it can be a one handed operation (if that is possible)
 
Greetings.

Please see this VAF post for examples of cracks on a flying RV-14 (not RV-14A).

Here are the parts contained in SB 18-09-17. Rounded forward, blunt aft and beveled edges are apparent on F-14148A Skin Doubler. Remember to countersink F-14148A/C to accept the dimpled J-stiffeners.

I will be installing these during my annual in two weeks and will report back with my experience. My airframe has 87.6 hours, is flown by a pilot who prefers boring flights and shows no indication of cracks in the area associated with the SB.

IMG_9543.JPG

My friend and I completed the SB on my flying airframe last week. It took about an hour. You can read about the details here: http://rv-14a.blogspot.com/2018/11/maintenance-sb-18-09-17-aft-bottom-skin.html.

The AD3 rivets called out for in the SB were too short. Every AD3 rivet I used was 0.5 larger. When you place the rivet in the hole, this need will be immediately obvious to you if it applies (my use of primer may have contributed to this need), but I suggest bringing your rivet sizer with you when you crawl back in the tail.

I used drilled out rivet heads as filler for the exterior dimples.



Access wasn't tough. I used boards in the baggage area and lots of padding in tail.



Install was straightforward





 
Last edited:
I am glad you brought that solution of drilled rivet heads up. I was going to mention that a week or two ago. I think that's what I did on the firewall when at the time there was the discussion about drilling vs dimpling the battery bracket or something like that. I just drilled a bunch of rivets and used those to fill the dimples. This should work well for the belly and that doubler.

I haven't done mine yet. I've got some paint to test for color match and then I may do it, but I may wait until spring when it's warm enough to paint while it's on the plane. That way I have painted rivet heads. There won't be that many hours of flying between now and warmer weather.
 
I decided not to try to fill the dimples. I didn't take pictures since the pictures in this thread are already excellent. The tailcone was not attached to the fuselage yet, so we opted to lay it on its side on a workbench. The side skin is flat enough that this fully supported it and let us reach in to to the drilling, parts placement (with a cleco buddy outside), and riveting (with a bucking buddy reaching through the aft deck for the AN470AD4-4 rivets). Total time was 0.6 hrs solo to prep and prime the parts and 0.8 hrs with a buddy to drill and rivet everything. And as a bonus, we clecoed the tailcone to the fuselage afterward, and earned an extra build beer each.

Happy building, everyone!
 
anyone use pop rivets/cherrymax for this? I'm tied down far from power sources. Maybe even a bit of proseal on the faying surfaces?
 
Last edited:
I think the SB calls for shorter rivets than should be used.
Had to upsize the AN426 rivets: AD3-3.5 to AD3-4 and the AD3-4 to AD3-4.5.
I still have one of each of the original size called for in the SB, but may drill them out. Just a little too flat.
https://www.vansaircraft.com/pdf/service_bulletins/sb18-09-17.pdf

I had already dimpled my skin, but just pressed them flat with the DDRT.

IMG_9270.JPG


IMG_9252.JPG


IMG_9253.JPG


IMG_9258.JPG


IMG_9260.JPG
I agree, specially if it is painted airplane. I had to upsize all of them.
 
Get a long, skinny rivet set

I just finished SB-18-xx-xx. Drilling out the rivets from below/outside was taxing on the arm muscles, but not difficult. I have learned to use a slightly smaller bit to drill out rivets... and I've now drilled out more than I thought I would. There are a couple of rivets inside the tailbone that can be squeezed, but the 470 "clip" rivets must be bucked due to the bulkhead flange. There are rivets in the bottom skins that are too close to the bulkhead for a standard rivet set head to reach on the inside. If you want to back-rivet them, you'll benefit from a thinner (high risk) rivet head for those. My bak-rivet head couldn't get close enough to the bulkhead. I've been lucky to have a good friend who will buck rivets for me from the outside... and a great wife who will do so in a pinch.
Andrew Alexander
EAA Chapter 1
 
Just done

I?ve just finished the SB on a new build - in my case I backriveted the middle j stiffeners to the skins, so I also backriveted the little flat clips and doubler plate at that time. This made the rivet adjacent to the rudder cable guide much easier to buck since the whole bulkhead had not been installed yet.

When it came to the clips tying the j stiffners to the 1408 bulkhead, I wished I had riveted these to the bulkhead before I installed it on the skins. Then I could have squeezed them easily - as it was, bucking these didn?t work as the material was just too thin and I could get the gun square on the heads due to the adjacent j stiffner - in the end I squeezed with a hand squeezer (just managed to get it to fit).

So a tip for anyone after me - consider riveting the angled clips to the 1408 bulkhead before you slide it into place.

O2jT3VrwGr2uQfc8KGYaYe5IUKfbEDUn6XycsT28RgPjl5U56-41yw1JAbWKlSyfy6hvCYgJaXB8uzG6pbA_lQgtwNAxprgBwkb0k4__1vGpNF-q4Bnh0u6bDmbSBogswP3hnWRp4FupZQKpOkalFS9DwzzVdgs0LdWLhIgBSM5yxkgJ-GbnE7dOoCByK6bVoAv146OoTOTCVLeoJ7msS-GLCCZDd5y12sF19NIVtqje8f3e6KMvwDeXKGacymAKQ8Sa-kk0FnmXFKkyopstl3NLCsyt-8dOX3gf7vLvZRVIn9X4aXNVOsGbs2AGNnGecedH6RClQapSE9S8Pg-yUBpu7YJI5yYxxVOBKaLsbA-rMmOxC0ex_YrKbLg-3Uf_Hd-ffJ6TDqD3XrQeYIETFEk2iKVRXNVvPWUX48Um549b3X3OyvSHc1p8dx-VGE49JXlI-1yFDWcZelotukorPRdbqJMZuEXJ2LGw6aRgSIIWX97qTYA-3KT4QhDb7ZvlbXLZXOYRuesGqFNxitipgAYancFghXLVJDHGUf2ZGSBmPOUUOWoajGRlaWC80JMRVpHUsHhdCS0RsIjDPgdCoY_etxEa62uOPqudlRppJi7rLEJ8pLo5FW59eGSSK0r-wEPrr-xoatezPsaUyKUadNtDr-Vy64ECGmQvkO1Tibcnu1-kyHXovOwT4U-cpnnIqtOcnLv3_2Ntzyrc0T_XmcHLsw=w750-h564-no


fAGWT330xItes17RN2gCLC-D0Z8dY6OD62UlSE607QzyVJOu5mdhdkFpIkF7RyLdzGwT1by1fVyvLIqMkhu8V7SpDTLPpbk00A_2b5IGINn7mziK0POEscL423Iwe9l8dXKm0SEX34JlMXSh9xtMl7KsEMVBdKZWaMOH6npdQmZLGkwjc-hQk55MVpxIrPDMOiXUcc6RvDEkhQASJsfeFqotnEe09iXQUqphAlQO4T9NUAbnrPCeF9qjSYwuyJ-rDsKLcQ0WuI6eZhr3pDub7XfTIf2HbYMrf7pyxQTDOmfdYKYQwRjcJWudcLSS67g0tJcNJcL4hdIs-2i8eYumE8v7zWR-f9pjgeAlsXmk_diQSgbEW_uidTvHgihEJs78RvYcKF7byL7Mba3AsR_5w1VA0zAUqrFj47llPsJ_Gm6UUpyqZi1K8Wy5-eoGB1335RjhJGBEaGNGqDgtEYQN4YnYbfwID1eWx3Wv_YGdHnYMfc3grgvmybr9zxKgOOldYTpcJKIVoFvNv6wKLLS3d5UfcTiZxlu1BzWoFmEdkEU2KyArCbxvNkwJ5mXOC5kkL3Dcj1Oth5UQ9wlQ-S3jkkUKBIHxsAJI_j7LhKiXH7KQ1W-FMeGaslD5e8_ReQDxm7JYsp5PEXBTKqbF6GE2SGrwB_S17ql2vPCQ0X2Fy0FJs50bX1wv6_vKjTh5JX49wC4P6hd0tLH4mcFkAzrp15RL3Q=w750-h564-no
 
Back
Top